Name generator

Fantasy shop name generator for smithies, apothecaries and curiosity shops

Twenty shop names per click for the places where a party spends its gold. Names are built from an owner, a trade word and the goods on the shelf. Choose cosy, arcane, grim, comic or noble and keep the ones that fit your town.

These are 20 seeded examples. Press Generate for a new batch.

Sable's Trinketsowner's name's goods
Refundable Gems & Compassesdescribing word + goods & another goods
Master Ropedescribing word + goods
The Anvil ForgeThe sign object + shop word
Corner Herbs & Cloaksdescribing word + goods & another goods
The Sterling GrindstoneThe describing word + sign object
The Master AnvilThe describing word + sign object
Wendeline's Last Chance Sundriesowner's name's Last Chance shop word
The Rivet ApothecaryThe sign object + shop word
The Tidy BazaarThe describing word + shop word
Elixirs & Remediesgoods & another goods
The Exquisite ThimbleThe describing word + sign object
Appointed Toolsdescribing word + goods
Maps After Darkgoods After Dark
The Curious Trading PostThe describing word + shop word
Trusty Charmsdescribing word + goods
Prudence's Suspicious Salvesowner's name's describing word + goods
Orrin's Armouryowner's name's shop word
The Hourglass of Many TincturesThe sign object of Many goods
Rations & Mapsgoods & another goods

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Nothing saved yet. Press the heart next to a name and it appears here, saved in this browser only.

Fantasy shop name generator: example names by style

Each group below is a fixed batch made with this generator, with only the style filter changed. 50 names are on this page before you press anything.

Cosy and homely

The Honest Bellows
Tidy Relics
The Tidy Stores
The Neighbourly Spyglass
The Curious Bobbin
Buckles & Cloaks

Arcane and strange

Reliable Buckles & Anvils
The Starlit Needle
Reliable Herbs
Scale & Bellows
The Moonlit Padlock
The Bottled Needle

Grim and dark

Nameless Maps
Patient Tinctures & Wands
Herbs After Dark
The Curious Hammer
Lodestone & Hammer
Thaddeus's Rope

Comic and light

Orrin & Oona
Barnaby's Last Chance Pawnshop
The Suspicious Tongs
The Half-price Pawnshop
Awl & Bobbin
The Honest Armoury

Noble and grand

Potions & Rations
The Sterling Bellows
Mungo's Apothecary
The Master Crucible
Mirela's Arrows
The Grand Stall

How these shop names are built

This generator draws from 156 hand-picked words in 6 lists and uses 21 naming patterns, plus 6 more that wrap around a keyword you type. The patterns can combine into up to 118,138 different names before filters. Every name in the list shows the pattern behind it, so you can see why it reads the way it does.

Word lists

List	Words	A few of them
Owner's name	20	Oona, Nettie, Sable, Tamsin, Mungo, Zebedee, Lisbet
Shop word	22	Provisions, Armoury, Sundries, Bazaar, Stall, Trading Post, Chandlery
Goods	32	Scrolls, Trinkets, Lockpicks, Anvils, Relics, Spices, Helms
Describing word	50	Nearly New, Thrifty, Corner, Trusty, Busy, Enchanted, Overpriced
Sign object	26	Needle, Pestle, Spindle, Cauldron, Hourglass, Rivet, Bellows
One-word ending	6	wrights, craft, house, works, wares, mongers

Patterns

Pattern	Example	Used for
owner's name's shop word	Orrin's Armoury	any style
owner's name's goods	Agatha's Blades	any style
The describing word + sign object	The Imperial Mortar	any style
sign object & another sign object	Crucible & Tongs	any style
goods & another goods	Anvils & Bolts	any style
The describing word + shop word	The Dusty Provisions	any style
describing word + goods	Moonlit Trinkets	any style
The sign object + shop word	The Cauldron Chandlery	any style
owner's name's describing word + goods	Orrin's Trusty Remedies	any style
owner's name & another owner's name	Tamsin & Corvin	any style
sign object + one-word ending	Hammerwares	any style
owner's name & Daughters	Wendeline & Daughters	Cosy and homely, Noble and grand
The describing word + sign object Shop	The Starlit Anvil Shop	Cosy and homely
The sign object of Many goods	The Alembic of Many Tools	Arcane and strange
describing word + goods & another goods	Whispering Blades & Rope	Arcane and strange, Grim and dark
goods After Dark	Arrows After Dark	Grim and dark
No Questions goods	No Questions Cloaks	Grim and dark
Definitely Not Stolen goods	Definitely Not Stolen Remedies	Comic and light
owner's name's Last Chance shop word	Oona's Last Chance Apothecary	Comic and light
House of owner's name	House of Petra	Noble and grand
owner's name of the describing word + sign object	Oona of the Midnight Whetstone	Noble and grand
your keyword's shop word	Hobnail's Workshop	any style
your keyword & owner's name	Hobnail & Barnaby	any style
The describing word + your keyword	The Cheerful Hobnail	any style
your keyword + goods	Hobnail Relics	any style
your keyword's describing word + goods	Hobnail's Glimmering Gems	any style
The your keyword + shop word	The Hobnail Sundries	any style

The words are written by hand for shop names, not scraped. Pressing Generate runs the same seeded routine that built the names above, so the same seed always gives the same list.

Naming guide for your shop

A shop name in a fantasy town has to answer one question fast: what can I buy here? The plainest pattern does it in two words, an owner and a trade, as in Orrin's Smithy. It is also the pattern that makes a town feel lived in, because every such name hands you a non-player character for free. Decide who Orrin is and the scene is half written.

The second pattern is the hanging sign: a describing word and an object from the trade, such as a brass mortar or a patient anvil. Use it for shops with some age or pride, the kind that have been on the same corner for three generations. Two objects joined by an ampersand, a mortar and a pestle or a quill and a scale, work the same way and are easy to draw on a town map.

The mood filter is where the fun is. Arcane names suit the shop that should not exist, with bottled and whispering goods. Grim names belong to the fence who buys what the party found and asks nothing. Comic names warn players that the potions are slightly cursed, and noble names put a royal warrant over the door and double the prices.

Before you commit to a name

Say the name aloud twice. If you stumble, your players or readers will too, and a name nobody can say gets replaced by a nickname.
Check that it does not sound like another name already in your campaign or story. Two places that start with the same letter and end the same way get mixed up at the table.
Search the web for it. The names are built from this site's own word and syllable lists, but a random blend can match a name from a published book, game or setting by chance. If it does, pick another.
If you plan to publish or sell your work, treat the name like any other: you are responsible for checking it is not a trademark or a well-known name from someone else's world.
Write it on the map or the character sheet and read it small. Long names get shortened in play, so check that the short form also works.

Questions

How do I get names for one kind of shop, such as a blacksmith or a potion seller?

Lock the trade or goods word you need. Open Lock a word on a name that has Smithy, Forge or Potions in it and press that word; every new batch keeps it and changes the owner and the describing word around it.

Can I put my own shopkeeper into the name?

Yes. Type the name into the include-my-word box and the generator switches to patterns with a slot for it, such as Hobnail's Emporium or Hobnail and Tamsin.

What are the comic names for?

For the one shop in every campaign that the players never forget: the discount alchemist, the seller of definitely not stolen relics. Use one per town at most, or the joke wears thin.

Do the names say anything about price or quality?

Only by tone. Noble names with Royal, Master or Appointed suggest high prices; grim names with Secondhand or Backdoor suggest bargains with a catch. The rest is up to you.